Lucas is close to realizing his dream, and he needs our help as he vies for one of the top prizes with the compelling video GÇ£One Nation Under Guard.GÇ¥ The competition is a great opportunity for recognition of his work, and wide exposure for his message of tolerance.
The winners will be chosen by popular online voting. The first place film will be awarded $100,000, which would fund his film projects for restorative justice, plus $15,000 to the charity of his choice. His charity will be a center for at-risk youth, many of whose parents are currently incarcerated within our penal system. One such group of young people is featured in the video. Second and third place each get $10,000.
Please help us get the word out!
View the 11-minute video and vote for "ONE NATION UNDER GUARD" at http://www.current.t... by December 1 and, if you will, ask as many others as you can think of to do the same.
Details in the attached press release.
The link to Daniel Neman's article in Saturday's Richmond Times Dispatch is:
http://www.timesdisp...
Richmond Screenings are scheduled at the following times/locations. All are invited!
Cafe Gutenberg (1700 East Main St) November 29th with showings at 7, 8, and 9 p.m.
Hyperlink Cafe (814 W. Grace) December 1st with showings between 4 and 8 p.m.
Your vote is truly needed. Only one vote per email address and only 3 votes per computer are allowed.
Talk about timing. Democrat activist Lucas Krost learned about Current TVGÇÖs international GÇ£Seeds of ToleranceGÇ¥ competition just six weeks before the submission deadline. Current TV, developed by Al Gore and marketed to 18- to 34 year-olds, features short videos produced and voted on by viewers. Viewers vote online, giving the GÇ£greenlightGÇ¥ to the most compelling videos, which then are aired on Current TV stations around the country.
Undaunted that the competition had been running for four months, Krost immersed himself in the task, driving to Emporia, Greensville, and Washington , D.C., to interview prison inmates and leading prison reform experts such as Alan Elsner and Matt Mauer. He pulled all-nighters and several favors to produce GÇ£One Nation Under Guard.GÇ¥
Now, out of some 380 entries, the 12-minute film is one of the top finalists in the competition. The competition offers a wonderful opportunity for recognition of KrostGÇÖs work through his film company Justice Films, plus wide exposure of his message of tolerance. The winner will receive $100,000, plus $15,000 to donate to a charity of choice. Krost says that should he win, the donation would go to a center for at-risk youth. Two finalists will receive $10,000 a piece. The awards will be presented at a screening event in Los Angeles in December.
GÇ£A month ago, if youGÇÖd asked me about the people in prison, I would have said theyGÇÖre getting what they deserve,GÇ¥ said Krost. GÇ£But then I started looking into it, and found that the prison system has become a $40 billion industry, with the private sector running correctional corporations that trade on the NY Stock Exchange. The United States incarcerates 2 million peopleGÇöthe largest prison population on the planet. Under this system, we are locking up 1 in 3 young black men, moving them far from home. We strip them of the right to vote, the possibility of holding decent jobs and the dignity of supporting themselves and their families. Our prisons are holding the strangest of reunions: grandfathers, fathers and sons behind bars. There is no paying of their debt to society, no clean slate. The present system values the bottom line more than it does solutions, at enormous cost to everyone.
GÇ£The reason I jumped at the chance to make this film was to get the word out about an issue of which so few of us are aware. If GÇ£One Nation Under GuardGÇ¥ can inspire people to see the need for restorative justice, and move them toward supporting and joining those who are working for it, we can begin to create a prison system that delivers justice for all, not injustice for a marginalized minority.GÇ¥
The 380 entries were initially were judged by a panel including Edward Norton, M. Night Shyamalan, Paul Haggis, Jeffrey Wright, Melissa Etheridge, Margaret Cho and Morgan Spurlock, narrowing the field to six. Now the final choice is up to the viewers.
To view the video and cast your vote, go to: http://www.current.t...